


Firecracker's Regressuary 2019

by firecracker189



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Rhett & Link, The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Gen, Non-Sexual Age Play, nsap
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-20 03:47:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 15,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17614856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firecracker189/pseuds/firecracker189
Summary: Regressuary Prompts 2019!! I'm so excited. Various prompt fills that will be listed in the notes of each chapter.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So. I may not do all 28 of these, but if i can get ten done, I'll be happy!   
> Prompt 1: Character A regresses at an inopportune time  
> Characters: Jack, Bob and Wade.
> 
> Very excited to play around with bby Jackaboy again!!

It had been such a long day already. They’d risen at five AM in order to have time to shower and eat breakfast before their 7:30 early photo call, and it had been a constant barrage of meet and greets and developer meetings ever since. It was only about 4PM, but Jack was starting to feel the effects in a major way. His whole body was heavy by the time they queued up behind the stage for the group panel. Mark hadn’t been able to make it to the con, and Jack was a little grumpy with him. But at least Bob and Wade were there! He was grateful to have them with him as they mounted the stage and got themselves settled onto the chairs. The crowd was going insane and Jack pasted a tired smile to his face. He figured he’d have to wave off at least a couple of inappropriate questions, but for the most part fans tended to be very easy going about things like panels. He settled in between Bob and Wade and waved a little to the crowd, getting the two to lean in for an Instagram picture before the moderator officially started the Q and A session. 

**Hey guys! Beautiful day here in sunny Florida! All ready for a Q and A with these two crazy dudes!**

He captioned the picture and slid the device into his pocket. 

The first two people had questions for Wade, so Jack sat back and listened with a good natured look on his face, enjoying seeing his friends getting some attention. He leaned forward attentively when the next girl asked him a question, smiling encouragingly as she stuttered a bit.

“Don’t be nervous,” he assured. “Really. Take your time.” 

She blushed furiously and nodded. “Okay, um...so...I was just wondering, what do you do in your spare time? What’s something you find really relaxing at the end of a hard day?” 

He honestly couldn’t say why, but that particular question hit him right between the eyes. Jack figured it had to do with the way he’d been teetering on the edge of headspace all day long, the way he’d had to force himself to be big for the majority of the week and to keep moving instead of letting himself slip like he needed to. He licked his lips and cleared his throat. 

“Thank you for that question,” he murmured out of habit as she slipped back to her seat. “Uh, I don’t have a lot of things, actually. Typically just a long shower goes a good way. Cozy set of pajamas, that kind of thing. Sometimes I’ll listen to music or something. Or turn off all my electronics and take a nap, that sort of thing.” 

He didn’t miss the glance exchanged by Bob and Wade at his answer. Wade shifted a bit closer and Jack leaned into his shoulder just a little. 

For some reason every single question after that that wasn’t directed at Bob or Wade made Jack edge closer and closer to shutting down completely and being unable to cope. He wasn’t truly sure why, maybe it had just sounded in his mind like the fan was asking him about regression. Either way, he’d not been little since before he’d left for the States.

“Jack?” 

He hadn’t realized he’d zoned out until he realized Bob had been trying to get his attention for what was apparently a few minutes. 

“Oh, shit. Sorry!” He laughed at himself, flashing a tired smile at the audience. “Guess I’m still jet lagged or something. What was the question?” 

The guy at the mic shook his head, smirking softly. “It wasn’t a question. Just wanted to say I hope you’re taking care of yourself. We understand how stressful things like this are, and I just wanted to say that I hope you’re taking it as easy as possible.” 

“Oh.” Jack blinked, leaning a little more into Wade’s side, feeling himself start to slip at such a nice comment. “Thank you. That’s...that’s very nice of you.” 

He managed to keep himself just barely together for the rest of the session, but he was subdued and people noticed. He knew they noticed, but he couldn’t care. Jack only wanted to get back to his room so he could be free from prying eyes and fall apart. As soon as the panel closed out, he dropped the mic on the chair and hurried down the steps towards the back of the stage, skin crawling. He almost made it to the elevator when he felt a hand close over his wrist, effectively stopping him.

“Jack?” It was Wade. “You shouldn’t go wandering off by yourself if you’re feeling small.” Wade kept his voice low and Jack felt a trembling start in his legs as he turned to face him. 

“I can’t do it,” he whispered, chin crumpling. 

“I know.” Wade longed for nothing more than to hug him close, but there were still a few sets of curious eyes around. “C’mon. Let’s get you upstairs. We can’t let everyone see you like this. Come on.” Wade mashed the elevator button and herded Jack quickly inside. Once the doors swished closed, he tugged Jack to his side and rubbed at his shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’m going to take care of you.” 

Jack fell hard and fast once they got back to his room, all the way down into his full headspace. He pitched forward on unsteady legs, letting out a pitiful little cry. Wade caught him and hoisted him onto his hip, rubbing his back and shushing him. “Hey, it’s alright, little guy. Don’t worry. Uncle Wade’s going to make everything all better, okay?” Wade cooed softly to him, bouncing him a little bit before heading over to put him down on the bed, running both hands through Jack’s hair. “You sit tight for a minute, okay? I’m going to go grab your things from your suitcase. Then we’re gonna take a bath and get all cozy for a pre-dinner nap. I think somebody’s a little cranky.” Wade moved to the corner of the room and bent to pick up Jack’s suitcase, setting it on the edge of the dresser and sifting through till he found the compartment that held Jack’s little things.

“Alright, baby boy. Time for a bath. But first,” Wade turned and held out a pacifier. “Here. Here, come on, sweet boy. Take your paci, there we go,” Wade smiled and stroked Jack’s cheek.”Now you be a good boy and sit tight while I go run your bath.” Wade took the diaper and supplies along with a pair of Jack’s pajamas into the bathroom and put them on the counter. Then he ran a few inches of warm water into the tub and opened one of the plastic cups from the tray on the counter top so he could have something to use to wash Jack’s hair with. Satisfied that the soap he’d tipped in would work well enough to help clean Jack up, Wade pushed to his feet and went back into the bedroom. “Alright, munchkin. C’mon. Let’s get you clean.”

Jack was uncharacteristically silent and only mildly responsive while Wade cleaned him up, sucking on his thumb. Wade worked quickly, not wanting Jack to get too cold in the only half-hearted heat the hotel heater was giving off. Once he’d gotten him dried off, Wade made quick work of getting Jack into a clean diaper and his jammies. “Hey, baby boy,” he murmured softly, toweling off Jack’s hair so it wasn’t so damp. “Let’s go have a lil’ nap before we meet Uncle Bob for dinner, hmm?” Jack was a warm weight against him as he unmade the bed and tucked him in with his blankie. “You just have a good sleep,buddy. I’ll be right here, don’t worry.” he assured, giving Jack back his pacifier and sitting down beside him on the other side of the bed. “I’ll be right here watching tv until you wake up.”

Wade turned on the tv at a soft volume and waited for Jack to fall asleep before taking a picture of him and sending it to Mark.

**[Wade] You picked a bad time to not come to this con, dude. But that just means I get the little guy all to myself!**

_ [Mark] Oh shit, man! That’s not fair. Stop stealin’ my boy! I love him so much, please take good care of him.  _

**[Wade] Was that ever a doubt? He’ll be fine. Just make sure you get some time with him before he has to head home.**

Wade nodded off himself, only waking once Jack had nosed up into his side. “Hey, buddy. What do you say we text Uncle Bob and have him bring the food to us, hmm?” He picked up his phone again and checked through his messages.

_ [Bob] Hey, what time did you want to meet for dinner?  _

**[Wade] Well, I’ve got a little guy on my hands, so I was thinking you could bring some food to us? Maybe something more liquid for the little guy?**

_ [Bob] Sure thing. I’ll bring up some sandwiches or something and some milk so we can give him a bottle.  _

**[Wade] Thanks, man. You’re the best.**

Wade let Jack crawl into his lap and rubbed his back. “You want a bottle? Uncle Bob’s gonna bring us some milk, does that sound good, buddy?” Jack sucked at his pacifier and let out a sleepy hum. “Okay. We’ll get you a bottle in a few minutes. But for now you just relax, baby boy. We’re gonna take care of you.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Characters A and B fight over which animal is best, and Character C has to make sure the fight doesn’t get physical  
> Characters: Rhett, Link, Jessie
> 
> Little Link and Little Jessie fight about which animal is the best! Rhett has his hands full.

 

Rhett was in the kitchen, making dinosaur chicken nuggets when he heard the bickering start. He knew he should have put Link down for a nap earlier, but he hadn’t wanted to spoil Jessie’s fun by taking away her play partner. Besides, hopefully Link would go down easier if he’d eaten something first. Being full and sleepy might go a long way towards getting Link to fall asleep. 

“Nuh uh! That’s stupid, Link!”

“Not stupid!  _ Jessie _ stupid!” There was a thump and Rhett knew that Link had stomped his foot. 

“Be nice!” Rhett called absently, plating a couple bunches of grapes. 

“No, Link! Listen, cats are better than dogs ‘cause they can climb trees and see in the dark!” 

“Cats dumb!” Link insisted. “Dogs best! They can give hugs an’ an’....learn to do cool tricks!” 

“Cats!”

“Dogs!” 

“No,  _ cats _ !” 

It wasn’t until he heard a distinctly angry noise from Link that Rhett decided to drop everything and intervene. “Whoa, hey you two. What’s goin’ on?”

Link swiveled and whined, looking over at Rhett in a fit of toddler upset. 

“Jessie...Jessie say that kitties are best but..but they’re not!” Link gestured, blustering a little. 

Jessie popped up from her spot on the floor and shook her head. “No! Uncle Rhett, Link’s being mean,  _ and _ he won’t say kitties are best!” 

Rhett felt like it wasn’t a good time to say that he thought Link was right, that cats weren’t as good as dogs. Instead he took a deep breath and put one hand on each of their shoulders. “Okay, you two. First of, we don’t say anything or anyone is stupid, got that? I want to hear apologies and then you’re gonna hug each other. Do it fast, we got nuggets in the oven and I don’t wanna burn them.”

Link and Jessie glared at each other for a moment before Jessie, ever the dutiful older cousin, made the first move. 

“M’sorry, Link. I guess doggies are just as good.” She murmured, hugging Link softly. 

Link eventually hugged her back, looking a big ashamed of himself as he glanced over her shoulder at Rhett. “Link sorry,” he murmured, the picture of little boy honesty. “Love Jessie.” 

Jessie’s face lit up and Rhett felt a smile come to his own face as Jessie rubbed Link’s back a little. 

“I love you too, Link.” 

The timer from the kitchen rang out loudly and the two littles broke apart, grinning at Rhett eagerly.

“Right,” Rhett clapped his hands. “Time for nuggets! To the sink! I want everybody’s hands washed before I see bottoms in chairs!” 

Jessie and Link hurried to the kitchen, falling over one another to get to the sink and get their hands cleaned up for dinner. The little scuffle ended up with the two of them crammed side by side at the sink, lathering their hands up with more soap than Rhett considered necessary, but he’d let it slide. He slipped the nuggets onto the plates and made sure to squirt the ketchup out himself so Jessie didn’t get too much. Jessie wiped Link’s hands off with the towel and Rhett smiled happily as he carried two of the plates to the table. “Alright, you two. Sit down. Maybe after dinner we can watch a movie,” He carried his plate over and sat down across from them. “What movie do we want to watch?” Rhett dunked a nugget into the ketchup and looked over at Link, who had somehow gotten his binky back to his mouth between being in the living room and the kitchen. 

“Link,” he spoke through a mouth of chicken. “You gotta take that out to eat, buddy. You can have it back after we have dinner okay?”

Link meekly took it out and set the binky besides his plate, picking at his chicken nuggets. 

“Can we watch Wreck It Ralph?” Jessie asked, dabbing daintily at her mouth with a napkin. 

Rhett stifled a laugh with another bite of nugget and looked over at Link. 

“What about you, Link? You wanna watch Wreck It Ralph?” 

Link shrugged. 

“What’s wrong with you, bumblebee? You feel okay?” Rhett popped a grape into his mouth and frowned a little. 

Link chewed on a piece of nugget and shrugged again. “Fine.” 

“Well, you’ll get extra cuddles from me after you finish up that plate, grumpy boy.” Rhett teased. “Come on you two, I want both of you to join the clean plate club before you can get up and leave the table.” Rhett swiftly cleaned off his own plate and wiped his hands off on his napkin. “There’s my clean plate. Jessie, what about you?” 

“Almost done!” She showed him her plate with just a few grapes on it and beamed at him happily.

“Good job. Link?” 

“No hungry,” he mumbled, pushing the plate towards Rhett. 

“No? I could have sworn your tummy was growling earlier.” Rhett frowned and sipped at his water before standing up and rounding the table. “C’mere,” he murmured softly, finagling Link off the chair and sitting down. “Siddown on my lap, bumblebee. Let Rhett help you finish your dinner.” 

Link sat down in his lap willingly, melting back into him. Rhett picked up a nugget and held it up to Link’s lips. “Bite.” 

Link took the food obediently, and Rhett got him to eat most of the plate before he started to fuss and turn his head away. 

“Okay. Alright. You’re done, buddy. You don’t gotta eat anymore,” Rhett assured the teary-eyed Link. “Jessie, you put your dishes in the sink and go on and get the movie set up.” 

“Okay!” Jessie looked over the moon at having been given a task, scurrying off and dropping her things in the sink with a clatter. 

“C’mon, lil bumblebee. Sleepy boy,” Rhett murmured, carding a hand through Link’s hair. “Up we go. Let’s get your things put in the sink and then curl up together on the sofa.” Link whined the entire time Rhett was getting the table cleaned off, trailing behind him with one hand outstretched and the other one with fingers wrapped around his binky as he suckled at it desperately. “Oh, just a minute.” Rhett said affectionately, getting all the dishes rinsed off. “Okay. Okay, come on, little brother.” Rhett held out his arm and Link pressed to his side as they made their way to the living room where Jessie was bouncing up and down excitedly because she had managed to queue up the movie all by herself.

“Look at you, I’m so proud of you! Good job!” Rhett told her as he settled down and Link curled into his lap. “Mkay. Start it up, Jess! Get settled in with Jellybean over there and we’ll start the movie.”

Jessie curled up under a blanket and hugged the stuffed pig to her side as she started up the DVD. 

Rhett thought tonight would be a pretty good night.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 3: Character A has a favorite food they eat when regressed, but one day they can’t find it anymore   
> Characters: Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff (Our Little Family 'verse)

Every time he was little, he went right for the kitchen, straight for the snacks. He had to have his hands in everything and if anyone was ever eating something, Clint had to have some too. He’d climb into their lap and whoever it was instantly had a little partner to share their snack with. Fortunately for him, none of the others were ever that upset by it. But he did have a favorite food, something that he hardly ever cared for when he was Big, but always wanted when he was Small. 

That food was Cocoa Puffs. While yes, Clint Barton was no champion of a healthy diet, a  _ Little _ Clint Barton was even less so. As soon as the jet touched down, he scampered into the kitchen and climbed up on the counter, rooting around in the cabinets. He found a box of Lucky Charms and some Frosted Flakes, but the Cocoa Puffs were nowhere to be found. Someone else came into the room and he turned with a whine.

“Puffs?” 

Natasha smiled fondly. “You ate them all, little bird. Remember? Now come on down from there and we’ll go take a bath first. We can think about snacks after we get cleaned up.” 

Clint pouted as he clambered down to the ground and took Natasha’s hand. “Bubbles, Momma?” he asked as she led him to the elevator. 

“Of course we can use bubbles. It wouldn’t be fun otherwise, would it?” 

“Nuh uh.” Clint shook his head with a little grin. “Bath toys?” 

“You can have two.” Natasha told him as she shepherded him into the bathroom. “Go get undressed while I get your clean clothes. I’ll have Jarvis order you some puffs.” 

_ I already have, Natasha.  _ _   
_ Natasha smiled softly. The AI, it seemed, had her back in the whole ‘not wanting to deal with a Clint tantrum’ front. 

“Thanks, Jarvis.” Swiftly, she pulled out some of Clint’s pajamas and a fresh Pull-up. “Now let’s get this little bird all cleaned up.” 

Once she had gotten Clint to sit still long enough to get the grime and dried blood off of him, Natasha checked him over carefully once he was dried off, just in case she had missed any cuts or injuries. Once he had pouted enough that she knew she’d properly looked him over and fussed over him, Natasha held out the pull-up. “Step in,” She directed softly, a smile playing across her lips. She settled the plastic around Clint’s hips and reached for the pajamas. “Paw Patrol!” Clint said gleefully, and she laughed.

“Yep, your favorite jammies ought to help you feel better.” She helped him into the matching shirt and pants and then looked at him curiously. “Do you want socks? Are your feet cold?” 

Clint nodded. “Socks, please.” 

“Look at you being so polite, little bird!” She crooned, loving the way it made him blush and squirm on the spot. “Come on. Let’s get you some socks and then go have our snack. Perhaps by the time we get downstairs, the others will be there too.” 

She led Clint down the hall to his room and watched as he picked out a pair of socks and sat down to put them on. “Do you want to get anything else before we go? A pacifier or maybe a stuffed animal?” 

Clint stood up and went to the other dresser, pulling out a pacifier and then moving back to take her hand. 

“Okay?” She asked with a little kiss to his forehead. 

“Okay.” he murmured with a nod. “Let’s go get snack.” 

Natasha laughed. “Okay, sweet boy. Snack it is.” 

She was more grateful than she should have been when they entered the dimly lit kitchen to find the box of cereal sitting on the counter. No tantrums. Not today, at least. Another crisis averted. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Character B swears in front of A, and has to convince A to stop repeating what they said before C gets home   
> Characters: Big Jack, Little Ethan, and (tired CG) Tyler

Jack was in the kitchen, preparing a snack for Ethan when it happened. The bowl he’d put the grapes in just slipped from his hands, shattering into several pieces on the floor of the kitchen. “Shit!” He felt the errant shard pierce his hand, the stinging causing him to grit his teeth as he bent down and attempted to corral the pieces into one area. 

“Jack?” he heard Ethan’s voice over his shoulder and looked up. 

“Stay back. There’s broken glass.” Jack said tensely, pushing to his feet and sticking his hand under the faucet. “Agh! Fuck!” he cursed loudly, momentarily forgetting there were impressionable ears in the room. 

“You said a  _ bad word _ !” 

Jack wound a dish towel around his bleeding hand and nodded. “Yes. But you can’t. That’s a grown-up word.” 

“Why not?” Ethan pouted but kept his distance as directed, watching as Jack swept the pieces into the dustpan and tossed them into the trash. 

“Go let Chica back in.” He ordered instead, doing a double sweep of the area to make sure that no bare feet stepped on a small piece of glass later on and caused problems. He heard Ethan cooing at Chica in the living room and took the opportunity to put the broom away. 

“Why can’t I say ‘fuck’?” Ethan was back, Chica zooming past Jack’s feet to nose at her bowl loudly, making the empty plastic clatter against the floor. 

“Because it’s a grown-up word, and you’re not a grown-up,” Jack pressed at the cut on his hand. “Feed Chica, please. I need to go look at my hand.” 

Jack breezed past into the bathroom just off the hall, rooting around with his good hand and taking out the first aid kit. The cut looked deep as he wound the towel from around his palm, and he thought he’d need to butterfly bandage at the very least, or use some of the first aid glue if he couldn’t get the bandage to stay in place. He could hear Ethan talking to Chica, the sounds of teeth crunching on kibble signifying that he had, in fact, done what he’d been asked to do. 

“Fuck!” Jack hissed once again as the alcohol splashed over his cut, stinging madly as he brandished his hand in the air, attempting to get circulating air to cool the sensation.

“Fuck, fuck,  _ fuck! _ ” Shakily, he managed to get his the butterfly closures in place and wrapped up with an Ace bandage to immobilize his palm a bit more. Once he’d gotten the tub closed back up and put underneath the sink, he headed back into the living room. “I’m sorry about your snack, bud. We’ll have to try again later when Tyler and Mark get home.” he held up his wrapped hand apologetically. 

“That’s okay.” Ethan continued to stack Legos on top of one another haphazardly. “I wasn’t really that hungry anyway.”

“What are you doing?” Jack asked, sinking down to sit beside him. 

Ethan shrugged. “Stackin’ stuff. Like to see how big it gets before it falls over.” 

“Ah,” Jack hummed, falling silent and watching Ethan continue his work. It was a few moments before the inevitable crash happened, coming right down at eye level with Ethan’s face. 

“Fuck!” Ethan rubbed at his nose and Jack groaned softly.

“Oh, god. You’re not going to give that up easily, are you?” He asked, defeated as he helped Ethan gather the blocks back up. “Listen, buddy, you can’t keep saying that. It really isn’t a word that little boys should be saying.” 

Ethan stacked a few Legos and stuck his tongue out at Jack. “You’re not my daddy.” 

“Well, I guarantee that your daddy wouldn’t let you say that either. So please, stop saying that word, or  _ I’ll  _  be the one that gets in trouble for it.” 

An impish smile crossed Ethan’s lips. 

“Oh, no--”

“Fuck!” he yelled loudly, a big smile on his face as his perfectly timed yell brought Tyler into the back door. 

“What on earth is going on in there?” Tyler stuck his head in, a worried look on his face.

“Um. Ethan learned a new word?”

“Jack cut his hand!” Ethan piped up, maxing out the cute factor as he somehow managed to seem innocent after all that, eyes large and unassuming. 

Tyler glared at Jack but softened a little as he gestured to him. “Lemme see it. But just so you know, you’re both getting your mouth soaped out for that.” 

Jack spluttered as Tyler led him back down the hall. “But I’m not even little!” 

“I know, but you shouldn’t have even said it around him when Ethan was little.” 

“Fair enough,” Jack grumped a little as Tyler unwrapped his hand and looked at the damage. 

“You’ll live.” Tyler pronounced playfully, wrapping the bandage back around Jack’s palm. “Now sit down on the tub. You’re getting soap in your mouth for bad language.” 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Character A has a nightmare and Characters B and C have to calm down A in order for them to sleep again  
> Characters: Tony, Maria, Phil (Our Little Family 'verse)

It was a quiet night, relative to the Avengers. They’d had a minor scuffle with some Doom Bots earlier in the day, but nothing too dangerous. Everyone had returned to the tower after that, ready to relax and maybe have some pizza in their pajamas. It was a nice afternoon leading into evening. Tony had taken a few solid hits and wasn’t feeling so well, so Phil eventually put his foot down and put everyone in bed early, citing injury. Tony didn’t care. He was hazy and exhausted and took the pills given to him without question, swallowing them down and instantly collapsing into the bed in Phil and Maria’s spare room. A blissful drug-induced sleep claimed him within moments, body heavy against the mattress. The last thing he felt was someone pulling the blankets higher along his back. 

But Tony’s dreams were not so sweet, despite the promise on the bottle of pills that they would cause a dreamless sleep. He was never so lucky. Instead his dreams were filled with memories, which were somehow worse than a normal nightmare. Yensen, and Obie. Howard and Maria. Steve, on the fringe of things, some unattainable archetype of a human being that Tony had looked up to until Howard had told him he had to grow up. Pain. Surgery in a dark cave and burning himself while pursuing an escape plan. His chest hurt. It was hard to breathe. Things weren’t biologically how they were supposed to be now, but he was alive. He was alive and he could fight those fuckers right back. He might not make it home, but he could make it out of that cave and take a few of them down with him. He’d be damned if they would use him as their own personal lackey. Tony Stark was more than that. He slammed to his knees in the sand, heat all consuming and the weight of the reactor heavy against his ribs.  _ But was he?  _ Oh, god. Oh god. This was how he died. The explosion hadn’t killed him and neither had the shootout, but...the environment would be his downfall. Dehydration, heat...he was cooking like a chicken in a convection oven, the hot air rising and falling around him and the sand frying his skin beneath.

An overwhelming sense of loneliness crashed through him and he had to stumble, falling to his knees, the sunlight searing his skin. Tony Stark, escaped but never found. Body buried by the sands. He clutched at his chest and fell backwards slowly, into the sand. The sands grabbed at his body, pulling, clutching, and somewhere a menacing laugh sounded--the very earth was excited at the prospect of no more Tony Stark. A choked scream left his throat, clawing, kicking, trying his most desperate to free himself. But he couldn’t. This was it. This was how he died, being sucked down, down, down...into the blackness.

“Tony!”

“Tony, wake up!” 

“Tony!” 

Something else at his shoulders, pushing, pressing, stifling. Tony lashed out with a primitive cry. 

“Tony, it’s just us!” 

Phil. 

“Tony, please calm down!” 

Maria. 

Tony’s eyes pried open, desperate, breaths coming fast and hard and eyes letting go of yet more tears. Oh, god. Home. He was home. He was at home and everything was fine. 

“Oh, god,” his voice sounded broken, grating against his throat and he wondered how long he’d been screaming. 

“It’s alright, Tony,” Phil was wrapped around him and Tony was grateful for the contact. He gripped desperately at Phil’s tee shirt. “We’re both right here.” Tony felt another weight at his back--Maria, sliding in behind him to curl up, a warm weight at his spine. 

“It’s alright, Tony. You’re safe.” She murmured into his neck, pressing little kisses to his shoulders. 

“ _ God _ ,” Tony choked again, finally falling apart at the seams. 

“It’s okay. It’s alright.” Phil held him tightly. “It’s alright, Tony. You’re safe here.” 

Tony knew it. It took him a while of listening to them talk and focusing on their touches before he finally relaxed in their collective hold, breathing out a relieved sigh as the tears finally stopped. He was okay. He was home. He was safe. Tony finally drifted to sleep, peaceful in the knowledge that everything would be okay. He had a family who cared about him, and that meant he could rest easy for the rest of the night.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Character A makes a giant pillow fort without consulting B. How does B react when they first see it?  
> Characters: Rhett and Link

 

Link had disappeared for a while, down to the basement, but Rhett had simply assumed he was down to watch tv or maybe play a game on the PS4 or something, just unwind a little. What he  _ hadn’t  _ expected was to come down the stairs with a few snacks only to find Link had used all of the cushions from the sofa, the futon, and all available bedding materials from the closet to make a giant fort. 

“Link?” he set the food down on the bar and walked over to the fort. “You in there, bud?” 

Link stuck his head out, a giant grin on his face. “Look, I made a fort!” 

“That’s...I...you sure did, Link. You gonna let me in there or what?” 

Link nodded. “You can come in, Rhett.” 

“Good.” Rhett sank to his knees and clambered underneath the flap, into the slightly dim fort. Link was proudly sitting in his little nest of pillows, grinning as Rhett got himself settled. “Why’d you build this?”

Link shrugged. “Don’t know, just kinda wanted to. Wanted to hide.” 

“Feelin’ small, or no?” 

“Maybe a little.” 

“You want a hug?” Rhett asked, opening his arms. 

“Yeah.” Link responded after a minute, crawling over and timidly wrapping around Rhett. 

“Hey, man. None of that. Don’t half-ass it when I hug you,” Rhett said playfully, bear-hugging Link tightly. “Hug me like a man!” he insisted, feeling Link’s glasses press up against his shoulder. 

“Like  _ this _ ?” Link’s voice held nothing but mischief as he  _ squeezed _ . 

“Yeah, exactly like  _ that _ ,” Rhett wheezed a little, squeezing right back until Link started laughing. “Like  _ this,  _ too!” He wasn’t the only one that could be full of mischief. Rhett’s fingers danced cleverly over Link’s ribs and Link yelped softly. 

“No, Rhett, not like that!” Link tried to squirm away, pushing at Rhett’s chest. 

Rhett held on tighter and kept tickling him until Link became a limp ball of laughter against him. 

“Okay,” Rhett finally stopped, laughing deep in his chest. “Okay, we’re done for now.”

Link’s cheeks were red, smile so wide it showed in his eyes as Rhett pulled away a little to look at him. “Feeling better?” 

Link nodded with a soft giggle. “Bubba, you’re bein’ silly.” he murmured as he sat back on his heels with a grin. Rhett knew he wasn’t all the way in his headspace yet, but if Link wanted to play around first, Rhett would oblige. 

“Little brothers aren’t the only ones that get to be silly,” Rhett told him with a wink. “Now come on out for a minute so we can go change our clothes.” He crawled out of the fort and Link reluctantly followed him. “You wanna wear pajamas or something else?” 

“Pajamas,” Link murmured. “Please. Just wanna relax, Rhett.” 

“Look at you, so polite using your manners,” Rhett gushed with a big smile. Compliments phrased like that always made Link have an easier time getting into his headspace.

“I know you do, buddy. And we will. But it might be hard to relax in those jeans, bo.” Rhett pointed out, leading the way back up the stairs. “Wait here and I’ll go get your things.” He tracked upstairs to the spare room and snagged Link’s bag from the closet. 

Link was twisting at his hands when Rhett reappeared, frowning a bit as he set the bag down on the sofa. “C’mere, Link. C’mere and lemme help you get undressed.” Rhett pointed to the downstairs bathroom, and Link went quietly, standing in front of the shower as Rhett shut the door and put his bag down on the counter top.

Link stood perfectly still, not making any sound as Rhett removed his glasses and put them beside the sink. “Okay, little man. Arms up so Rhett can get that icky big boy shirt off of you.” Link’s arms went up, a slight pout playing at his lips that had Rhett thinking he was still slightly more full of big boy mischief than little boy upset. He set the shirt aside and stepped closer, swiftly undoing Link’s belt and pants. “Step out,” Link grabbed at his shoulders and did as he was told, standing there in his boxers until Rhett reached for the pull-up.

“No,” he murmured half heartedly. 

“Sorry, bo. You know you need it, now please don’t fight with me. I just want to have a nice night and get some good cuddle time in.” 

Link’s pout was most definitely far more towards the little side of the spectrum now. But he stood still while Rhett exchanged his boxers for far less grownup attire, which Rhett was grateful for. 

“Thank you for being so good for me.” Rhett said softly, reaching out to cup Link’s cheek, his thumb making soft patterns against Link’s slightly stubbled skin. “Can you be a good boy for me again and help me get you dressed?” He picked up the soft unicorn kigurumi from the counter and Link’s eyes lit up.

“I’ll be good, Rhett, promise!” He answered earnestly, and Rhett had to laugh. 

“I know you will, buddy. You’re the best little guy around!” Rhett shamelessly baby-talked him as he picked up the pajamas and unzipped the front. “Yup!” he pronounced as he zipped Link into the pajamas. “You’re just the cutest unicorn I’ve ever seen!” 

That did it. Link squeaked a little and his eyes got that wide innocent look to them. “No, Bubba! M’Link! Notta unicorn!” he pushed the hood back and let his hair show. “See?” 

“Oh, I see that, bumblebee.” Rhett’s tone was indulgent as he pulled Link in for a hug. “I see that.” He hugged Link tightly and kissed the top of his head. “Now c’mon. You made such a great fort down there, we can’t not use it!” 

“Bubba,” Link protested. “Binky firs’!”

“Binky first?” Rhett teased, poking Link’s side and making him giggle. “Binky first, huh? Does my lil’ bumblebee want his binky? Hmm?” Rhett smiled at the way Link got all squirmy and red in the face. 

“Binky, pease?” Link’s tone was subdued as he tugged at Rhett’s shirt softly. “Bubba,  _ pease _ !” His voice pitched, ending on a high noted whine. It was far less ‘i want something’ and far more ‘i’m about to cry because i  _ need _ something’ now. 

“Okay,” Rhett kissed his cheek. “Okay, alright. Calm down, little man. We’ll go get your binky outta my room and then we can go right downstairs and watch some Paw Patrol and cuddle till bedtime. No tears, though, alright?” He rubbed at Link’s back until Link decided it was safe enough to remove his face from Rhett’s chest. Link’s thumb was in his mouth firmly as he nodded, a pitiful little boy frown on his face. “Okay.” Rhett agreed, kissing Link’s cheek again. “Which binky do you want, bumblebee?” Since they’d started indulging LInk’s headspace on a semi-regular basis, Rhett had gotten him a few more binkies so he had options if he ever lost one. But Link’s favorite was still that green and white one Rhett had first gotten for him. “You want dinos, bumblebee, crayons, or green?” 

Link clung to Rhett’s free hand as they padded down the hallway, looking very soft, very tired, and very very small. “G’een,” he lisped around his thumb, slightly swinging Rhett’s hand in his own.

“Green it is,” Rhett fought laughter at the cute sight and led Link over to his dresser. Rhett let go of Link’s hand and opened the bottom drawer, bending slightly and taking out the little nondescript box. He smiled a little, popping the top and holding out the coveted binky. “What do we say, Link?” he prompted before he let Link take it. 

“Fank ‘ou, bubba,” Link murmured around the silicone, rubbing at his eyes and making his glasses bob up and down against his nose. 

“You’re welcome,” Rhett put the box back and shut the drawer, holding out his hand once more. “C’mon. Downstairs we go. Five episodes max before we go to bed, though.” 

Link whined and stomped his foot softly. 

Rhett softened a little, opening his arms and giving Link a reassuring smile. “Hey, bumblebee. It’s okay. Come here.” He picked Link up and held him close. “Oh, you’re so fussy tonight, little brother. That’s okay.” he rubbed Link’s back and sighed. “Come on downstairs with me. Let’s go downstairs and watch some Paw Patrol, hmm?” He snagged Link’s blankie from the bed and gave it to him. “Let’s just go downstairs. Go downstairs and snuggle up for a while.” Rhett ended up falling asleep by episode three, waking by the end of what he hoped was episode five to find a very sleepy boy on his chest, staring at him with big eyes. 

“Mm, Bubba needs to go to bed, bumblebee.” Rhett murmured sleepily. “You wanna come to bed?” Link patted Rhett’s cheek clumsily and Rhett gave him a tired smile. “Okay. Let’s go to bed. C’n you get up for me?” He let Link sit up and move off of him and then crawled out of the fort, groaning as his back started to twinge again. He was oh so grateful to feel the support of his mattress as he sank down and pulled the covers over them both.

“Ni ni,” Link mumbled, nuzzling at Rhett’s shoulder softly. 

Rhett kissed his forehead. “Night night, little man. I love you,” he whispered, but Link was already asleep. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Character A tries to be big when B tells them to be, but A gets hurt and immediately goes little  
> Characters: Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> per parf edhellen, "dambeth= give in the imperative form" and "enni= to me" therefore dambeth enni ought to equal a rough approximation of the form "give [an answer] to me"  
>  (i'm not as brushed up on Tolkien languages, though i speak a fair amount of Spanish)

Of course Legolas would have been little when trouble struck. Their little band of three were backed into a corner by a pack of roving Uruks, the snarling carrying for several miles in the relative quiet of the forest. Twigs cracked beneath gargantuan boots, and Aragorn could think of nothing but the Elfling beside him. “Legolas,” he murmured quietly, hearing the creak of a bowstring across the clearing. “Be strong and swift, penneth.” How he hated to drag the poor little Elfling out of his headspace so drastically! But he needed his warrior, and true to form, Legolas delivered, dispatching the archers with a fast twang of his Lorien bow. 

A growling bellow sounded the attack, and Aragorn and Gimli lunged forward with a yell of their own. The weight of the Evenstar seemed to become more around his neck as his sword struck again and again, each time meeting its target with deadly accuracy. Blood spattered in his eyes, black and cursed, but he made no notice. A scimitar deflected his sword, sending it reeling from his hand, but Aragorn simply unsheathed his hunting knife and continued to go toe to toe with Saruman’s army. The warm yet cool weight of the jewel around his neck centered him, and with a last snarl, his enemy fell to the forest floor. Panting heavily, Aragorn turned on the spot to take stock of his comrades. Gimli as ever held his own, shouting Khuzdul curses at the Uruk as he sliced him down from the knees, then continued to dispatch him stroke by slow agonizing stroke. Legolas--

“Legolas!” Aragorn’s voice rang through the clearing, a different kind of panic bubbling in his stomach as he looked around, spitting blood from his mouth. “Legolas?” He strained for any faint sounds--perhaps his friend had simply chased a straggler from the clearing to finish it off? “Legolas, dambeth enni!” There was a rustle of leaves and a soft sound off to his left. Aragorn seized upon it and within the moment the Elf appeared, a hand to his side and a stain of blossoming crimson beneath the pure white of his palm.

“I am here, Aragorn,” Legolas’ reply was weak, blue eyes alight with a fear that went far beyond a simple wound. A warrior would be unphased by such a wound, but his Little Greenleaf, however…

The dying groan of Gimli’s opponent broke the barest moment of silence before Aragorn stepped forward, dropping his knife to retrieve later in favor of cataloguing just how severe Legolas’ wound was. “Oh, Penneth,” he murmured softly, putting a grime covered hand on Legolas’ shoulder. “Worry not. We’ll soon have you seen to and all will be right. Come.” He took the Elfling by the elbow and led him to a small boulder, sitting him down before leaning down to meet his eyes. “Stay here. Gimli!” he turned a bit. The dwarf was seemingly as worried as he was when he finally set eyes on Legolas’ rapidly unraveling state. “Stay and keep watch. I’m going to wash first before I treat his wound.” Gimli nodded and Aragorn set off down the hill towards the babble of the stream, stripping quickly from the waist up and ridding his arms of the filthy orc blood. He didn’t want to give his little one any sort of nasty infection. As quickly as he could, Aragorn returned to the clearing and dug through his pack for the dried Aethelas, dumping it into his mortar and adding a bit of water from a skin to turn the herb into a healing paste. “Gimli! How is he?”

“Fading fast, though not from the wound. I fear it is all becoming too much for him, Aragorn.”

Aragorn hummed and dug out the length of bandage, tossing it to Gimli, who removed his knife and started to cut it down to size. “Then we will fast have to rectify that mistake.” 

He knelt down and stared up at Legolas’ tear streaked face. “Come, penneth. Let’s get that tunic off so I can see the damage.” Gimli set the bandages on top of one of the blankets he’d pulled from his pack, and helped Aragorn to get the near unresponsive Elf out of his clothes from the waist up. “Oh, penneth,” Aragorn murmured softly. “It’s not nearly that bad.” But Legolas, in his Elfling mind, apparently equated the small grazing wound with nearly losing a limb, starting to cry in earnest as the healing paste was spread across the wound and kept in place by the bandages. 

By the time Aragorn had finished with the bandages and Gimli had come back from washing, Legolas was unable to help himself from reaching for Aragorn, a plaintive look on his face and more tears sliding down his dirt smeared cheeks. Aragorn set the supplies aside in favor of easily scooping up one distraught Elfling, propping him on his hip and helping Gimli to start relocating their things. It wouldn’t do to try and soothe an upset little one whilst surrounded by downed Uruks. Together, the two managed to get their supplies and weapons gathered and down the way, to a sheltered overhang beneath a cliff that would provide protection from the clouds rolling in. Gimli, valar bless him, had decided to clean the weapons and wash stained clothing in the hours before the rain moved in. Which left Aragorn to dress himself and Legolas in clean clothing and start their fire for the night. That done, he set out the bedding, combining his and Legolas’ to make a more luxurious cot for the two of them.

Aragorn tucked a blanket about Legolas’ shoulders and sat down, tugging him to sit between his legs. “Let me braid your hair, little princeling.” he murmured, well aware that while it seemed to cause Legolas no distress, the lack of princely braids in his hair would in fact distress his people. Aragorn deftly removed the half downed braids from the silken tresses as Gimli ferried the cleaned and sharpened weapons back to the campsite along with their cleaned clothes. The barest rumble of thunder began as he returned to the overhang, a few raindrops beginning to patter against the leaves just outside their little secure nest. Legolas had a few fingers in his mouth, an absent look to his crystal blue eyes while Aragorn deftly braided the intricate Elvish marks of distinction back into his hair. Within moments, the beads were back in place, and Legolas’ hair looked better than it had for days. He leaned back against Aragorn’s broad chest with a soft sigh. “Would you like for me to sing, penneth?”

“Song, Pa,” Legolas begged tiredly, sleepy Elfling eyes tracking Gimli’s moves as he began to search through the supplies for something to eat for dinner. Aragorn mouthed a quiet thank you as Gimli deliberately formed a batch of stew that didn’t have any meat for Legolas, while the larger pot for himself and Aragorn would have a bit of leftover rabbit in it.

“A song, little Elfling? Perhaps then you will eat your dinner with no complaint, and go to sleep.” Aragorn teased lightly, more than content to have the warm weight of Legolas against him and to hear that soft tentative voice speak up. He licked his lips and then began a favorite of both of theirs,  _ The Lay of Beren and Luthien.  _

Legolas dozed on and off as Aragorn’s strong voice rumbled softly beneath his ear, the background crackling of the fire melting all the tension from his body. He was still half asleep when Aragorn began to spoon the warm brothy mixture into his mouth, occasionally scraping at his chin with the spoon to keep the droplets from getting onto his shirt. It was warm, the rain couldn’t get to them, and Legolas had a willing hand to look after him. He was content.

“Sleep well, penneth.” He felt the barest brush of lips against his forehead as he was lowered into a laying position, and for the first time in a long time the barest hint of a smile graced the prince’s lips. 

  
  
  



	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: (I changed it a little because a certain friend needed some birthday cheer) Littles are known AU + Rhett and Link  
> Characters: (Obviously) Rhett and Link, plus Christy, Barbara and Jade; bonus appearances by Jen, Alex, Mike, Josh, Ellie and Chase

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was written for a friendo on the discord server! I probably won't be playing in this sandbox any time again soon, because I do love the 'Link But Smaller' series. But I might, I don't know. Anyway please enjoy this.

It was early morning. Too early. Dark outside kind of early, but here he was, shuffling himself down the hallway towards the promise of caffeine. Rhett’s hair stuck up on end as he yawned for the millionth time and slapped the ‘on’ button for the kettle. Maybe the tea would hold all the answers to his questions. He prepared himself a bowl of cereal while he waited on the water to heat, humming softly as Barbara and Jade came trotting into the kitchen, nosing at his ankles and begging to go outside. “Mm,” he murmured, sock feet shuffling across the tile. “Mm yeah, okay. I hear you,” he batted at the doorknob, opening it just a little so they could both scamper out into the yard. He was glad that Link and Jessie were still sleeping. He didn’t quite have the energy to deal with two grumpy Littles. Rhett turned back to pour some water over his tea bag, starting a little as Christy appeared in the doorway. 

“Did you sleep in there?” he asked in confusion, pointing a clumsy hand toward the living room. 

“Mm.” She nodded, brushing slowly past him to start her coffee brewing. “Fell asleep watching NCIS. Couldn’t start my catch up until Jessie went to bed. Would have given her nightmares.” 

Rhett put the kettle back on its base and nodded as he took his cereal to the table. “Glad Link went to bed without a fuss.”

“It’s rare.” She agreed, pouring some milk into the bottom of her mug and setting the carton back in the fridge. “Taking him to work today, or to daycare?” 

Rhett shook his head as she sat down with a cup of yogurt. “No. Can’t handle not having him with me today.” he looked a little sheepish as he finished up the cereal and stood to put his dishes in the sink.

“That’s alright. I understand. But know I’m on alert if you need me.” 

“Thanks.” he mumbled, turning back towards the stairs. “I better go get him up and dressed or we’ll both be late.” 

He tracked up the stairs and into Link’s room, laughing slightly as he noted the way Link was smushed up against the guard rails of the bed, strangle hold tightly on his stuffed lion. “Link,” he murmured. “Link, it’s time to get up, buddy.” Rhett sat down on the other side of the bed and leaned forward, running his hand through Link’s hair. “C’mon, bumblebee. Wake up for me,” he cooed softly, watching as Link began to stir gently. A moment later he was met with a very confused set of eyes and a Link Pout. “Aw, I know, lil guy. It’s rude, isn’t it?” Link whined softly and stuck his arms out. Rhett obliged, picking him up and hugging him close. “It’s so yucky, having to wake up, isn’t it, Link?” he rocked him from side to side, unashamedly using the universal ‘dog and baby’ voice. “Let Bubba get you dressed, hmm?” he kissed Link’s forehead. “Let’s go get you dressed, little man. Get you all changed into a nice dry pull-up and put your clothes on.”

It took awhile but Rhett finally got Link wrangled into his clothes for the day and his bag all packed. He checked the clock: one of the allotted two hours before work was down. No matter, that’s why he woke up so early. So he’d have time to get himself and Link ready. He had his own routine down to a cool half hour, providing that he laid his clothes out before he went to bed that night. Link was very clingy, though thankfully not verbal about it, simply drifting along beside Rhett while he went back and forth to the bathroom, fingers in his mouth. “You sure you don’t want a binky, little man? You’re gonna hurt your lil’ fingers if you keep chewin’ on them like that.”

Link shook his head. “No?” Rhett clarified. Link shook his head again, ignoring the binky Rhett had clipped to the bright teal sweatshirt Link wore. “Okay, then.” Rhett put his toothbrush away and let Link follow him into the bedroom so he could put his shoes on. “Alright. You ready, lil man?” Link nodded softly. “Okay. Let’s you and me get to work, hmm?” 

Link was sacked out again by the time they’d gotten ten minutes down the road from home. Rhett had given him his blankie when he’d buckled him into the booster seat; and as soon as he’d settled into the driver’s seat and given a few looks back in the rearview mirror to see Link rubbing the soft fabric against his cheek, he knew he’d be asleep by the time they got to the office. Rhett pulled into his parking space and cut the engine, rounding the car to open the door. He slipped Link’s backpack onto both shoulders and began to unbuckle him from his booster seat, little sleepy whines coming from Link as he did so. “Hey,” he murmured quietly. “Shh, lil’ bumblebee, it’s okay,” he carefully finagled Link out of the car and onto his hip. “It’s okay. Bubba’s gonna take you inside. You just go right back to sleep,” he coaxed, shutting the door and mashing the ‘lock’ button on the key fob before shoving the keys in his pocket. Supporting Link with both arms, Rhett carried him through the door, heading straight to the kitchen before he even dropped off Link’s bag in their office. He stood blearily at the counter for a moment, holding Link close and trying to remember what his foggy brain had been trying to tell him to go in there for.

“Tea?” Stevie was standing at his elbow, grinning knowingly and holding out a lidded cup.

“Oh my God, thank you,” he mumbled. 

“Chase brought his stroller in, if you want to put him down,” Stevie sipped at her coffee and pointed. 

“Oh my God.” Rhett sounded slightly horrified. “When did that happen?” 

“You’ve been standing there for a few minutes,” she giggled. “We figured you could use a hand today.” 

“You figured right,” Rhett lowered the still sleeping Link into the stroller and took the tea from Stevie’s outstretched hand. “Little bugger wouldn’t go to sleep last night and then fell asleep on me in the car. That’s all well and good for  _ him _ , he can nap all he wants to. But I’m running a few sparks short of a plug today.” 

Stevie frowned and Rhett held up a hand. “Please. If that analogy didn’t make sense, just let me have it.” he took a long sip of the strongly brewed tea and sighed. “I need a win today.” he reached out as Link stirred a little, putting the binky up against his lips and relaxing as he took it. Straightening up again, he grabbed the handles of the stroller. “Gonna go drop his bag off real fast and I’ll be back.” 

He couldn’t stash the bag beneath the stroller, being as this was just a basic model they’d picked up to keep at the office--not Link’s preferred model they had at home. So he had to track all the way back to the office and drop Link’s bag off at his desk before he headed back towards set. Rhett wanted to keep Link close today, for multiple reasons. Number one was that Link had been clingy this morning already. Number two was his own nerves--he didn’t feel comfortable leaving him alone with a baby monitor in their office to just nap it off. And Number three was that a sleepy Link just looked so damn cute in his stroller that he couldn’t help but keep him where everyone could see him. Wherever Rhett went throughout his morning, he pushed Link with him. If Link began to fuss while he was talking to someone, he’d reach out and gently move the stroller back and forth to keep him soothed and he’d go right back to sleep.

By the time filming started, Rhett had been unable to contain himself and simply settled Link on his lap to hold him while he slept. He made sure to speak softly, and the crew did as well, respecting the fact that one of their only little ones needed his rest. Fortunately, the plans for the episode weren’t impacted by not having Link able to participate. Rhett chose to simply scrap the game they’d said they’d plan if Link wasn’t in his headspace and instead just have a talk. He decided to just tell the story about their morning, just be soft, modulate his tone, and give the audience some of the personal anecdotes they tended to crave. He rubbed Link’s back and talked and alternated between kissing Link’s head and telling the story. By the time he’d gotten to the part where Link fell asleep in the car, Link had started to stir a little.

“Oh, he’s waking up!” Rhett whispered, peering down at the lump of Little One in his lap. “You have a good nap, bumblebee?” he murmured to the sleepy pair of eyes that looked up at him. “You wanna say hi to everybody?” Rhett pointed towards the camera and Link whined around his binky, hiding his face in his blanket. “No? Okay, alright, bumblebee. You don’t have to say hi,” Rhett rubbed his back softly. “Yeah, he’s not really shy, I promise. He’s just sleepy and maybe a little grumpy.” He kissed Link’s hair. “Alright, click through to Good Mythical More. We’ll see if we can’t get this guy to wake up a lil’ more and maybe interact some with you guys.” 

Link whined loudly and Rhett laughed. “Okay. Alright, calm down. We can take it slow,” he told him, glad the cameras were momentarily not rolling. “You just calm down, lil’ man.” He adjusted Link across his lap and scooted his chair over so that Mike and Alex could come in. “What are we doing?” he asked Alex. Mike had that gleam in his eyes that said sharp things were near, and Rhett felt his blood pressure go up just a little.

“So we’re uh, we’re going to be testing out ways that you can make kitchen knives a little bit safer, but we’re wearing gloves so we don’t actually cut someone’s hand. Jen’s going to come help me and Mike is going to put the scores up on the board for us.” Mike drooped visibly as Alex spoke, casting him a murderous glare. “Do that again and you’re going in the corner.” Alex threatened. 

Mike glowered but stomped over to stand beside the scoring board anyways, as Stevie came back with her next cup of coffee and sat down at her computer. 

“Everyone ready?” she asked over her mic. 

Rhett nodded. “You ready, Link?” Link let out a loud whine and Rhett shook his head. “Alright. Let’s just do whatever we can get before he throws a tantrum or something.” 

True to form, Link delivered on his promise of impending tantrum. Halfway through their experiment, Link started to whine and squirm in a way that Rhett knew meant he’d been wet for a bit longer than he’d let on, and now it was starting to cause him discomfort. Before Rhett could even get up and turn off his mic, Link had started crying full force, punctuated with a little screech every now and then as Rhett shifted him to get him up and out of the main studio before he really started disrupting. As soon as he got into the office he shut the door and put Link down on the plush rug that surrounded the pull out sofa. “Okay. Alright, I hear you, Link. I know you’re uncomfortable, buddy. Rhett knows. You just calm down and lemme clean you off.” He murmured, going over to pick up Link’s bag and then kneeling down again. Rhett was honestly still reeling from the incident the week before where Link’s ‘accident’ had been less than accidental. All he could see was flashbacks as he got Link’s shoes and pants off of him and cleaned him up, bagging the wet pull-up with a large zip lock bag from the backpack. He was honestly still a little pissed off with him for that, though he supposed he understood it. He’d nearly pushed Link to the edge of getting sick again from ignoring his headspace. That was bad enough having had it happen once. Rhett felt awful that it had nearly happened twice. He’d been overcompensating to dote on Link ever since then.

“Stop that fussin’,” he rubbed Link’s tummy with one hand after he’d slipped a clean pull-up onto him. “You stop that fussin’, little bumblebee. Let Bubba make it all better, huh? You’re all clean now, what more could you have to cry about?” Rhett had been absolutely sure to check for any rash before he’d re-dressed Link, so it wasn’t that. He leaned forward and kissed Link’s sweaty forehead. “What’re you still cryin’ about, little guy?”

Link let out a slightly hysteric sounding sob and reached up. “Bubbaaaaaa!” The whine was drawn out and full of toddler desperation. 

Rhett shook his head fondly and picked him up, holding him close. “Okay. Alright. Bubba’s here.” Link wrapped himself tightly around Rhett and Rhett pulled his phone from his pocket. 

Quickly, he texted Chase and went back to cooing at Link to try and get him to calm down, rocking a little from side to side. A moment later Chase appeared with a bottle of water and left without a word, shutting the door behind him. 

“Hey,” Rhett held the bottle in one hand. “Hey, buddy? I’ve got a bottle here, you want Bubba to give you a bottle, hmm?” He was fishing now, coaxing, trying to see whatever the hell would possibly get Link to calm back down. Link choked off on a wail and nodded against the wet patch he’d made on Rhett’s shirt shoulder. 

Rhett groaned and lurched to his feet, plopping heavily down on the sofa and using the pillows to prop himself up so he’d be comfortable. Then he pivoted Link in his arms and hummed softly. “Oh, bumblebee. Your face is so red right now buddy, you gotta calm down. Let Bubba give you this water and then we’ll see if we can’t get your face cleaned up, okay?” He pried Link’s fingers out of his mouth and slipped the bottle in instead, watching as the tension melted out of Link’s body. Rhett slipped his other hand under the sweatshirt and kept rubbing Link’s tummy. “Is this really what you wanted the whole time, huh? Why didn’t you ask me, sweet boy? Why’d you not use your big boy words and ask Bubba for a bottle?” he cooed, voice and expression soft. “You gotta learn that Bubba can’t just read your mind, Link. You gotta ask Bubba for things if you want or need somethin’,” he explained, absolutely  _ loving _ the soft look that came into Link’s eyes as he sucked at the bottle. Link’s new obsession with bottles had him softer than ever whenever they had time for it, and honestly? Rhett was absolutely weak for it. He loved it. Even if he knew that this was going to put Link back to sleep again and he’d most likely be wet again when he woke up. And then the cycle would start all over again. But Rhett didn’t care one bit whether Link was cranky, or that Rhett hadn’t gotten much sleep that night. Because it meant that Link was indulging his headspace properly and that they weren’t having any more communication problems. So Rhett talked him to sleep, put him on the pulled out sofa, tucked him in, and left to finish filming.

By the time they’d finished up, Link had calmed enough after his second nap to be far softer than before, toddling into the main studio looking very confused with his hair all sleep mussed and sticking up everywhere. He was dragging his blankie and still decidedly pants-less (Rhett had forgotten to put on his jeans again after he’d cleaned him up earlier). But at least he’d finally given up on his fingers and decided he wanted to use his binky.

“Bubba,” he demanded sleepily, coming right up to where Rhett was talking to Ellie about edits for the clips from GMMore (Mike had tantrumed hard about halfway through and he was embarrassed anyone had to see it, so Rhett was seeing how much they could take out). 

“Bumblebee,” Rhett replied in a tone just as whiny, letting Link hug him around his shoulders. “Did you have a good nap, Link?” he decided to let Ellie handle the editing decisions and turned to face Link more. 

“Mm,” Link didn’t take his paci out. “Link has cuddles?” 

“What’s the magic word?” 

“P’ease?” 

“Of course you can, thank you for asking so nicely, bumblebee!” Rhett scooped him up, feeling his skin thrum with that extra burst of energy in response to Link’s plaintive entreaties. “Hey, Mike’s had  bad morning, what do you say we go find him and you can give him one of your big hugs, hmm?” 

“Mike sad?” Link smushed his face up against Rhett’s shoulder. 

“He’s not happy, no.” Rhett replied, heading for the courtyard where he knew that Josh would be running off his afternoon steam before Jen made him go take a nap. Alex had probably moved Mike out there so he wouldn’t bother the rest of the crew. 

Sure enough, they were all out there, Josh playing hopscotch by himself and Jen and Alex sitting in lawn chairs. Mike was across the way, sulking in his own chair and looking very put out with Alex. “Hey guys. Look who woke up finally.”

Josh squeaked when he saw Rhett. “Link!” he came zooming up to them, stopping short and grinning at Rhett. “Can I give Link a hug?” 

“Sure buddy. Link, you wanna give Josh a hug?” 

Link nodded, eyes sparking a little as he leaned forward and hugged Josh around the neck. 

“I’m glad you feel better, Link!” Josh squeaked as he hugged him right back. Then he wiggled out of Link’s grasp and scampered right back to his game--he knew he only had a few minutes left before Jen would tell him to go inside and change his clothes so he could take a nap. 

“Actually, Alex, Link here was wondering whether he could find Mike and give him a hug, too?” 

Alex looked up from his phone. “I mean, you can try. I can’t say he’s in a better mood, though. He’s still upset that he lost his temper and got in trouble earlier for trying to play with knives,” he pointed vaguely towards Mike’s corner. “Go ahead and try.” 

Rhett carried Link over to Mike and cleared his throat. “Hey, buddy. Listen, I’m sorry about earlier. Do you think if Link gave you a hug, you might feel a little better?” It was dicey sometimes, trying to get Mike to interact with the littler boys. He sometimes felt he was too cool for them and brushed them off. But sometimes he could be surprisingly gentle with them, indulgent even. It was just difficult to know where a ten year old headspace would fall sometimes. Josh was always predictable, full of the enthusiasm of a six year old, and Link was pretty much unceasingly clingy and cute.

Mike looked up at him and shrugged. “Guess so.” 

Link was still in his sock feet and no pants, so Rhett opted to let him lean a little and have Mike lean up to meet him. He wasn’t putting Link down outside where his socks would get all dirty. Link gave a little coo around his binky and patted Mike on the back clumsily before curling back into Rhett’s side. 

“Feel better?” Rhett asked. 

“A little,” he looked like he was begrudgingly giving away that information. 

“You gonna go apologize to Alex now?” 

Mike looked slightly crestfallen. “He’s mad at me. He doesn’t like it when i try to touch sharp things or whatever. He gets scared.”    
“There’s your answer,” Rhett replied, swaying Link a little bit and letting him put his sticky hands in his hair. “If you know he’s worried you’ll hurt yourself, you oughta think a little harder next time. Tell him that. Now go on and get over there or you’ll be stuck here forever. He ain’t gonna let you leave without apologizing to him.” 

Mike huffed an angsty sigh but pushed to his feet anyway. “M’kay.” he scuffed his sneaker clad toe against the concrete and very very quickly wrapped his arms around Rhett and squeezed. “Thank you.” 

Then he was off, running across the few feet to stand in front of Alex and Jen, head ducked as he mumbled his apology to his feet. “You ready to go back inside?” Rhett asked Link, who nodded against his shoulder. “Okay. Let’s go back in. Josh and Jen will be back inside in a minute anyway for snack time before Josh takes his nap.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt:Character B coddles Character A too much when big, and Character A snaps that they can handle themselves  
> Characters: Ty, Eth, Jack, Mark, Amy, Chica-Bica the bestest pup

They were doing a livestream, everyone piled into Mark’s living room in pajamas or sweats, all cozy. Mark, Jack, Amy and Chica were bundled on the sofa. Ethan and Tyler were sitting in the floor in front of them. Currently round two was Ethan and Tyler versus Jack and Amy in Undercooked 2. Mark was commentating and chatting to the livestream while the others played.

“Agh!” Jack let out another frustrated cry and Mark’s laugh overtook Ethan’s in terms of loudness. 

“What’s the matter, Jack?” Tyler teased. “Havin’ trouble?” 

“Do-do you…” Mark laughed as Jack’s character fumbled around with the mushrooms, failing once again to chop them into slices. “Do you want help? Do you need daddy to help you learn things?” 

Jack’s ears turned red and he let out another yell. “This fucking dude! I-It won’t CHOP! I’m sittin’ right here, pressin’ the buttons, and NOTHIN’!” 

The screen flashed black, showing Ethan and Tyler had won. 

Mark and Amy high fived each other and Tyler and Ethan whooped loudly. Jack made a show of thrusting the controller at Mark and rolled his eyes. “I swear that character has it in for me.” he threw his hands up, shaking his head towards the camera. He knew Mark had meant the comment as an offhanded remark, but it had really gone right to Jack’s head. 

“Be right back,” he pointed at the camera playfully. “Don’t you go anywhere.” 

He listened to the commotion in the living room as he drifted upstairs to his room, shutting himself in and heading right for his bathroom. After he’d wiggled into a pair of looser sweats and a diaper (just in case), he headed back down for the kitchen to grab himself a snack. Once he’d gotten himself a bottle of water and a bag of chips, he headed back to his spot on the sofa. They’d switched over to Gang Beasts, Tyler happily murdering Ethan to the soundtrack of Amy and Mark squabbling with each other. He sat down and started munching away on his Bugles, unable to keep himself from making witch talons with them and poking Mark’s face. Mark let out a screech and Amy launched his character off the building with a little whoop. “Aw, c’mon man!” he laughed, turning to see what Jack was doing. Jack giggled and ate them one by one, shaking his head. “You made me lose! To Amy and Chica!”

“Well you deserved it!” 

The stream went on for another hour or so before Mark finally decided to call it quits-- Ethan was starting to slide into that pre-nap headspace where he got very fussy and fell apart really quick. They signed off pretty fast after Mark noticed. Amy disappeared to take Chica outside for a walk, and Tyler herded a sobbing Ethan up the stairs. Mark ferried Jack’s trash to the kitchen and Jack bristled. “I can do that myself, thanks,” he stood up and crossed his arms.

“Okay. Fine. Next time you have trash you can take care of it. Now please help me get this put up so we don’t have to worry about it later.” he gestured to the equipment. 

“Don’t...talk down to me.” Jack snarled, though he did start helping pack up the cameras. 

Mark didn’t respond, though he suspected that Jack was just getting cranky because he hadn’t had a nap yet. He’d try again later on, once they’d finished packing up and putting things in the closet, maybe see if Jack would be receptive to his help then. Once they’d picked up the things and put them in the closet, Mark tentatively put a hand on Jack’s back, trying to guide him up the stairs. “You tired?” he asked softly. 

Jack shook the hand off. “I can go up the stairs myself, Mark!” the remark was almost cold, his eyes flashing as he tried to maintain as much dignity as possible while wearing a diaper beneath his sweatpants. He could tell Mark knew he’d wet himself, and that somehow made the situation worse as he climbed up the stairs, sensing Mark following at a safe distance. 

He could hear Tyler and Ethan conversing quietly through the crack in Ethan’s door as he passed it, mixed with the occasional whine from Ethan as Tyler tried to settle him for a nap. He figured Ethan had dropped easily after Tyler had taken him upstairs, and Jack felt a little guilty he couldn’t do that too. But it was starting to grate on his nerves, all Mark’s overly solicitous behavior, like he was just waiting for Jack to be unable to take care of himself, just watching and hovering. Jack turned into his room and grimaced at the wet squish he got as he sat down on the bed, ignoring the crib lurking in the corner of the room. He stared down at his hands and sighed softly. “Get up. Get changed.” he directed himself. Jack moved over to the bathroom and started to strip down. His shirt landed at his feet with a little plop and by the time he’d gotten to his pants, Mark had materialized from nowhere and was attempting to help him. “I don’t need yer help!” Jack snarled, pushing at Mark’s hands viciously. “I don’t need all the coddling, Mark! I’m a grown ass man!”

Mark looked so damn sure of himself that Jack wanted to slap him. “Right. Sure you are.” He very pointedly let his eyes drift down to the clearly wet diaper around Jack’s hips.  

Jack stared him down angrily, cheeks blushing as he shifted from foot to foot. “I don’t--” he let out a little sigh. “I don’t need help.” 

“Why don’t you want me to help you?” Mark asked, sounding a little hurt. Jack felt guilty, nibbling at his thumbnail as he shyly glanced up from staring at his feet. 

“Just…” he let out a little whine. “Just want to be big, Mar’,” his voice pitched a little, the complaining tones of someone very much on the cusp of his headspace. Jack’s eyes filled with tears. “I just want to be big.” he whispered, and started crying. 

“Aw, buddy,” Mark cooed, stepping forward and catching Jack as he stumbled blindly towards him, seeking out cuddles. “I know that. I do. But it’s not bad to be small sometimes either.” He rubbed Jack’s back. The skin of his shoulders was still smooth and soft from where Amy had put lotion on him a couple days earlier. Mark kissed Jack’s hair and hummed softly. “We love you no matter what. Now you must be tired, we’ve been at this for hours, just lemme take care of you.”

Jack mumbled something Mark couldn’t understand--his fingers were currently all in his mouth. “What’s that, Bug?” A string of drool landed on his shoulder as Jack tugged them out of his mouth. 

“Amy.” 

“You want me to go get Mommy? I can go get Mommy.” He felt a little slighted, but it made up for it in the fact that he knew Amy would be over the moon about it. “You just sit right here lil’ bug, sit right there on the rug and I’ll go get her.” Mark plopped Jack down onto the bath mat and quickly headed downstairs to find Amy. 

She was sitting on the sofa, watching tv and texting Kat about something.

“Hey. Got a little guy that wants your attention, Mommy.” 

Amy set her phone down with a big smile. “Is that so? He doesn’t want you? Does the baby have a favorite now?” She teased him, standing up and kissing his cheek. “I’m just teasing,” she hastened to add before he got upset. “But it is nice to be wanted sometimes.” Amy made sure he knew, as she headed up the stairs. When she got to Jack’s room, she smiled at the sight that met her eyes. Amy’s face softened as she took a step forward and bent down. “Hey there, sweet boy. I missed you. You wanna let me help you get changed and ready for your nap?” 

Jack nodded and made little (very wet) grabby hands at her. “Okay, baby. Let’s get you all clean.” Amy got his supplies from under the counter and quickly got him undressed, making very extra sure to check for any rashes since she didn’t know how long he’d been sitting in that wet diaper. That done, she hurried to the bedroom to grab a clean onesie, bundling him into the soft fabric. With a little coaxing, she was able to use the last of his adult headspace to get him into his crib, leaving the side down so she could cuddle him for a bit before he took his nap. He was half asleep by the time she stopped petting his hair long enough to put a paci in his mouth. Amy smiled softly. “I hope you have sweet dreams, baby boy. I love you so much.” She kissed his forehead and ignored his sleepy whine as she helped him lay down so he could go to sleep. Once she’d pulled the side of the crib up, Amy handed him his blankie and turned on the baby monitor, clipping the portable part to her waistband. “I love you,” she whispered again, watching his eyelids flutter as he finally gave in to sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Characters: Rhett and Link  
> Prompt: Character B has to convince Character A to try a new food

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is...very short but it just seemed to work better that way.

It was always a battle to find something that Link liked to eat. Every day was a challenge for Rhett and Christy. He couldn’t just eat chicken nuggets and applesauce all the time. Sometimes he could get a big Link to try something new, but he rarely ever got past just putting it in his mouth. Little Link was far worse, so Rhett decided to be sneaky this time. He blended up a smoothie with a few veggies in it, and tried his hardest to mask it in flavors of fruit that Link preferred (the list was slim). Crossing his fingers mentally, Rhett offered the colorful smoothie to Link, tugging the binky out of his mouth first. “Made you a smoothie, bo.” He murmured, watching Link’s reaction carefully as he took the lidded cup. “Be careful, sip slow. It’s cold.” 

Link took a little sip. “Fruits?” he asked. “Yeah, buddy. Fruits! Your favorite!” Rhett hoped the kid couldn’t see through his bullshit, otherwise he’d have to resort to some other plan to get Link to eat his veggies. He waited tersely for a moment before finally relaxing as Link smiled happily. “S’good, Bubba!” he chirped. 

“Aw, I’m glad, buddy! Bubba made it just for you!” Rhett ruffled Link’s unkempt hair--a stark contrast to his on screen self, always so well-groomed. Rhett loved the stark contrast between Little Link and Big Link. It was comforting. But he still wasn’t going to tell Link that he’d put kale in that smoothie.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Character A sees their favorite animal and instantly regresses  
> Characters: Rhett and Link

Link was feeling a little small when he woke up, not really wanting to leave the house--but Rhett was really excited about something he’d planned for them to do that weekend. So he got up, put on some sweats and a hoodie, and met Rhett when he pulled into the driveway. 

“Alright, man, what’s up? You’ve been all secretive for days now.” Link buckled his seatbelt and turned sideways a little so he could look at Rhett. 

Rhett gave him the biggest smile, turning the wheel a little to back out of the drive. “You’ll see. You just sit back and relax.” 

“That makes me nervous. You’ve said that to me too many times in reference to things I don’t like.” 

“Well, okay. You got me there. But this time I’m absolutely serious.” 

Link let himself doze a little, surprised when Rhett shook his arm and told him they were there.

“Mm, where’s ‘here’?” he asked tiredly, rubbing his eyes under his glasses as he sat up. 

“You’ll find out,” Rhett answered cryptically, reaching around behind him to grab a backpack and bring it up to the front. “But you’ll probably want these.” He pulled out two pairs of sunglasses and handed one to Link. Link took them and slipped them on, giving a goofy but tired smile. “Do I look cool now?” 

“Nah.  _ I’m _ here, so you’re like, the second coolest.” Rhett took the keys out of the ignition and opened his door. “Now come on, man. I got somethin’ special for you to see!” 

Link tumbled out of the car, grateful for the sunglasses as he shut the car door. The early morning sun was already blazing overhead. He followed Rhett a little ways down the parking lot before it clicked.

“You’re….takin’ me to the zoo?” 

“I have my reasons. I packed you a lil’ snack in case you get cranky later, too!” Rhett smirked a little as he patted his backpack with one hand, slipping the strap over his other shoulder. “But you gotta promise you’re gonna tell me if you gotta go to the bathroom. You’re kinda bad at that.” he held out his arm, catching Link in the gut as he made to cross the street. “Among other things.” he murmured with a small shake of the head, glaring softly at Link from behind his aviators. “The phrase ‘look both ways’ not ringing any bells for you?” Rhett removed his arm and Link crossed the street with him, shrugging a bit. 

“Sorry, Rhett.” he murmured. 

“Man, sometimes I think without me around to help you out, you’d die.” Rhett pulled his bill fold out of his pocket and paid for their entrance fee and parking. Link scuffed his sneaker against the concrete and made no comment. 

* * *

 

“Want me to get you one of those?” Rhett pointed with a teasing look on his face. A mother was pushing a rented stroller with two very sweaty and tired looking kiddos in it. Link actually kind of did, but he wasn’t going to say it out loud.

“C’mon, man,” Link shoved the last bite of sandwich into his mouth and passed his trash off to Rhett. He watched him toss their lunch trash into the trashcan and frowned a little, pushing his sunglasses up onto the top of his head. “Um, Rhett?” 

Rhett sat his backpack down on the bench next to him and started digging around for something. “Mm?” 

“Not that this isn’t fun, but...why’d you bring me here?” 

“You can’t just lemme spoil you a little bit?” He let out a little grunt of triumph and pulled out what he was looking for--a spray bottle of sunscreen and a little bottle of liquid for the face. “Stand up.” 

Link stood. “You gonna slather that on me?” he asked, feeling smaller by the second. He’d rid himself of his hoodie not ten minutes after they got there, tee shirt serving to bare his arms and neck to the L.A. sun.

“You didn’t put any on earlier, so yeah. You don’t do it yourself, then I’m gonna do it for you. You know you don’t tan like I do. You just burn and then peel for days.” Rhett gestured impatiently. 

Link turned around and sighed heavily, holding up his arms. After a thorough spray of arms and neck, Rhett put the bottle away and uncapped the liquid sunscreen. “Turn around?”

Link turned back and made a face. “It stinks, man!” 

“It’s sunscreen, it’s not supposed to smell good.” Rhett made sure to get Link’s ears and face taken care of, humming a little to himself as he put the cap back on the tube. “There. Now you won’t get sunburned.” Rhett zipped the bag back up and put it on his back. “Right. Let’s head on to the bathroom and then we can go see what we really came to see.” 

“And what’s that?” Link trailed behind him curiously. 

“It won’t be a surprise if you keep askin’ questions.” Rhett propped the door open. “Go on.” He gestured with his opposite hand. “I’m not risking wet pants just because you’re curious.” 

Link pouted a little as he stepped inside. “Not gonna wet the pants.” he mumbled to nobody in particular as he shut himself inside the handicapped stall. He didn’t trust himself at the moment to take advantage of one of the urinals. Rhett had messed with his head with that sunscreen thing, and he could feel himself starting to get that fuzzy headed feeling around the outskirts of his brain. Better safe than sorry, as much as he hated to admit that Rhett was probably right on that front. 

He did in fact, manage to get his hands washed and to avoid ruining the cozy joggers he wore. Rhett was waiting back at the bench when he came out, a notebook in his hands that looked suspiciously like the one he kept around the office for Link’s sticker chart. He closed the book and stowed it back away as Link approached, smiling a little. “Better?”

Link shifted on the spot and resisted the urge to reach for Rhett’s hand. 

“Yeah.” he murmured. “You ready to walk?” 

“If you are.” Rhett slung the bag over his shoulders again and took a step towards the main pathway. “Let’s head that way.” he pointed to the giraffe pen and Link nodded vaguely. It was harder than he’d thought originally, staying in his big headspace when he was at the zoo with Rhett. Everything in him wanted to let go and cling onto Rhett’s hand and make a running commentary of everything he wanted to say about all the cool animals. But he had to keep himself in check because there were people watching. He didn’t like that. Link just wanted to be small and enjoy his day at the zoo with Bubba! He pressed up closer to Rhett while they made their way slowly around a bend in the pathway, their shoulders brushing. 

Rhett slung an arm over his shoulders easily--an acceptable form of contact that put them close but not close enough that people would be suspicious. 

“Thanks.” 

Rhett didn’t miss the tiny slur of words that indicated Link was slipping. “You’re welcome, bo.” he murmured. “You wanna see the elephants first, or go see the surprise first?” He caught Link’s hand before he could raise it to his lips and chew on his nails. 

“Don’t do that.” Rhett told him gently. “C’mon. Elephants or surprise?”

Link stopped and frowned softly. “Um, surprise?” he murmured, looking a little bit lost. 

“Okay, buddy. Let’s go this way,” Rhett pointed and gently gripped at Link’s elbow, subtly guiding him around the left hand bend in the road. “You’re gonna love your surprise.” Rhett told him, smiling to himself as he let go of Link’s arm. 

“What is it?” Link whined just a little, pulling his sunglasses down from the top of his head to put them back on. Rhett was just glad he’d seen fit to grab a pair that would fit over Link’s glasses. 

“I can’t tell you that, but you’re about to see it.” Rhett told him, looking so downright gleeful that Link had to admit he was curious. They rounded another long bend in the road and Link stopped short, eyes glued to the paddock at the end of the pathway. 

“Oh,” he breathed, eyes going wide as Rhett guided him down to the end of the road. 

Rhett laughed a little as they stood several feet back from the fence. Link’s eyes were big as saucers and he hadn’t spoke for a good few minutes, just staring silently at the grassy paddock full of pot-bellied miniature horses. A moment passed before Link seemed to re-animate, tugging on Rhett’s sleeve insistently. “Yeah, bo. I see them. You wanna get closer to the fence?”

Link  _ squeaked _ , turning to stare at Rhett with an awed expression, hand frozen just pointing at the horses. 

“C’n move closer?” he asked, awed. 

“Course we can. As long as you don’t reach over the fence, we can go right up to it. Now, they bite, okay? So keep your hands where I can see them.” 

Link nodded, still seemingly unable to form many words as Rhett shepherded him up to the fence. 

“Ohhhh,” It was the softest sound he’d ever heard Link make. 

Rhett smiled, pulling out his phone and filming a little of Link’s reaction so he could put it on Instagram later. “You havin’ fun with those mini horses, Link?” he asked with a big smile. 

Link turned towards the camera and gave a clumsy thumbs up. “They’re so  _ cuteeeee _ !” he exclaimed. 

“They are pretty cute.” Rhett agreed, hitting the ‘stop’ button and putting his phone back in his pocket. 

* * *

Rhett let Link stay there for as long as he wanted, eventually checking his watch and deciding it was a good time to get Link back home, maybe see if he’d take a nap. Jessie had thoughtfully cleared the kiddos out for the day, taking the boys to the pool and then out to dinner and a movie--so there was no risking anything to just get Link back to his house. “Hey, buddy? Let’s say goodbye to the horses, I’m startin’ to get a little hungry and tired. Let’s get on back towards the entrance.”

Link’s body language didn’t give anything away, but his eyes said ‘I’m about to tantrum’ as Rhett not-so-subtly guided him away from the paddock. “Don’t you act out,” Rhett murmured into his ear as he let go of Link’s shirt. “If you’re good for me I’ll get you a stuffed pony from the gift shop, okay?” he unashamedly bribed. 

“I can pick?” 

It sounded like a struggle for Link to not refer to himself in the third person. Rhett definitely had to get him home soon. 

“Yeah, buddy. You can pick, I promise.” 

Link kept his promise and pulled himself together, behaving admirably as Rhett got him into the gift shop and let him look around. 

“That one?” he asked, as Link poked him in the arm and held out a polka dotted brown and white plush horse. 

“This one.” he agreed thoughtfully, handing it to Rhett. 

“Good choice, buddy.” 

Link drifted towards the door while Rhett paid for and bagged up his stuffie, nibbling absently at his nails in a way that said he really  _ really _ needed a nap. Rhett told the cashier to keep the change and strolled over to Link. “Hey. C’mon. Let’s go.” he murmured sympathetically. It was a struggle of epic proportions to get Link back to the car. Link kept leaning on him and making soft whines that threatened full tears if Rhett didn’t get him out of public view fast enough. He got Link moving as fast as he dared, letting out a sigh once he’d shut the car door behind himself.

“Okay, buddyroll. Let’s get you back home for a nap, huh?” 

Link yawned widely and took off both pairs of glasses, rubbing at his eyes while Rhett strapped his seatbelt in. “S’eepy,” he agreed plaintively. 

“I know you are,” Rhett agreed, pulling out onto the highway. “Just wait a little longer and we can get you in your jammies and all cleaned up.” 

“No bafs,” Link murmured softly, leaning back against the seat. 

“Yes baths. Link smells like sunscreen and zoo dirt. So Link gets baths.” 

“No,” he mumbled again, eyes sliding closed. 

* * *

Rhett hated to shake him awake, because he knew it would only serve to give him a crankier boy to try and put down for his nap, but it had to be done. “C’mon, bumblebee. Wake up so we can go inside. You wanna carry your new friend for me?” he bribed Link yet again by pressing the soft animal up against Link’s arms once he’d gotten him extracted from the seatbelt.

“Mm, Link s’eeps here.” Link cuddled up to the stuffie. 

“Nope, Link goes inside.” Rhett went for a low blow and poked Link in the ribs. 

Link squeaked and opened his eyes to glare at Rhett. “ _ Mean, _ bubba.” he pouted. 

“Yeah, Bubba’s the worst.” Rhett opened his car door. “C’mon. I’ll come over there and open the door for you. The sooner Link goes inside and lets Bubba give him a bath, the sooner Link can have cuddles.” 

Link went willingly after that, shuffling around the house like a zombie while Rhett got him cleaned up and zipped into his footed sleeper.

“Link s’eeps, now?” Link gave an almighty yawn as Rhett finished toweling his hair dry, rubbing at his eyes with his knuckles. 

“Yeah, buddy. Link can sleep now.” Rhett told him, taking his hand and guiding him down the hall to his and Jessie’s room. “Link gets to take a nap with Bubba now.” He got out Link’s binky out and his blankie. “Does Link want to nap with his new stuffie friend, or does Link want his blankie?” 

Link made little grabby hands. “Link wan’s blankie, p’ease.” He sidled up to Rhett and nuzzled at his shoulder sleepily. 

“Okay. Alright, sleepy boy. Let’s just get in bed.” Rhett gave Link the requested cuddle items and then made sure to guide him all the way under the covers, kissing his forehead. “Just a second and let Bubba change clothes.” 

Rhett wasted no time in sliding into a pair of his own pajamas before crawling up by Link and setting the alarm on his phone. “C’mere, cuddly boy,” he said fondly, wrapping his arms around Link and letting him nose right up to his clavicle. “Let’s just have a good nap. We had a good day, didn’t we, bumblebee?” 

“Mm,” Link hummed sleepily around his binky. “Bes’ day wif Bubba.” 


End file.
